The present invention relates to collecting geographic data for a geographic database and more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for collecting traffic sign data for a geographic database using navigation systems.
Geographic databases have various uses. Geographic databases are used in in-vehicle navigation systems, personal computers, networked computing environments, and various other kinds of platforms, as well as on the Internet. Geographic databases are used with various kinds of applications to provide various navigation-related and map-related functions including map display, route calculation, route guidance, truck fleet deployment, traffic control, traffic monitoring, electronic yellow pages, roadside assistance, emergency services, and so on.
In order to provide these kinds of functions, a geographic database includes data that represent geographic features in a region. The geographic features that are represented in a geographic database may include roads, intersections, and so on. A geographic database includes information about the represented geographic features, such as the geographic coordinates of roads in a geographic region, speed limits along the road segments, locations of stop lights, turn restrictions at intersections of roads, address ranges, street names, and so on. A geographic database may also include information about points of interest in a region. Points of interest may include restaurants, hotels, airports, gas stations, stadiums, police stations, and so on.
Collecting information for a geographic database is a significant task. Not only is the initial collection of data a significant undertaking, but a geographic database needs to be updated on a regular basis. For example, new streets are constructed, street names change, traffic signals are installed, and turn restrictions are added to existing roads. Also, new levels of detail may be added about geographic features that are already represented in an existing geographic database. For example, an existing geographic database for roads may be enhanced with information about lane widths, shoulder sizes, traffic signs, lane barriers, address ranges, sidewalks, bicycles paths, etc. Thus, there exists a need to continue to collect information for a geographic database.
One type of information that is useful to include in a geographic database is traffic sign information. Traffic signs are not assigned consistently throughout a region or country. Therefore, prior methods for collecting traffic sign information have required field personnel from a geographic database developer to travel along each street in a geographic region, observe the traffic signs, record their observations and then add the traffic sign information to the geographic database. This process is relatively time-consuming and therefore relatively expensive.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to collect traffic sign information more efficiently.